TAXI, CHAUFFEUR & RIDE-SHARE
DRIVING CHANGE
Bringing services such as taxis, chauffeur-drive and ride-hailing into corporate programmes has been a longstanding challenge, but a host of tech suppliers are driving change
By Rob Gill (published 22 November 2024)
“Fragmented” – it’s the one word that crops up time and again when discussing how to manage ground transport services such as taxis, chauffeur-drive and ride-hailing.
This is not surprising given the sheer range and depth of services available to carry business travellers those few final miles between the airport or station and their hotel or meeting venue. The choices can be mind-boggling in a single major European city, let alone across a whole country or continent.
Letting travellers “do their own thing” and book whichever ground transport service they want comes with obvious potential pitfalls – not least duty-of-care considerations – but also an inability for the corporate to leverage this spending with preferred suppliers.
Potential solutions such as the much-vaunted ground transport 'super app' and 'mobility as a service' have been discussed for years, and it seems that some of these developments are finally reaching fruition. But will this be a new golden age when the prospect of a truly managed 'end-to-end' business trip finally arrives?
Rise of the ‘super apps’
A buyer at the recent Institute of Travel Management conference noted: “It’s very hard to find one online booking tool that allows you to book trains, cars and taxis all in the same spot”.
But several technology-focused specialist companies are working hard to change this, including Jyrney, HQ and The Miles Consultancy’s Mobility IQ, among others.
Daniel Price, CEO of Jyrney, says: “Our goal is to be accessible wherever travellers need us, so we work closely with TMCs, booking platforms and – more recently – directly with corporate clients.
“This direct approach has emerged due to growing demand from travel buyers who want immediate access to our technology – sometimes faster than their TMCs have been able to deliver.”
Price adds that Jyrney has “made significant strides” in integrating taxi, chauffeur and ride-hail services this year, which is making it easier for corporates to “seamlessly manage” multiple suppliers.
Meanwhile, The Miles Consultancy’s president of mobility Stuart Donnelly tells BTN Europe that it is now rolling out the Mobility IQ platform to five major global corporates after successfully completing its beta testing phase.
Donnelly says the app includes “all your favourite” taxi, ride-share and chauffeur operators, as well as train content integrated from Rail Europe. There are also plans to eventually add car rental, although it is “not a priority”.
“The very reason why we started there is because today ground transportation is booked by the user directly in most cases and is not part of the existing corporate travel technology ecosystem,” explains Donnelly. “So, rather than trying to shoehorn in innovation and new technology into an old antiquated system, we encourage people to start with a blank canvas.
“We are absolutely not against collaborating with TMCs and connecting with the existing ecosystem, but our priority has been to solve the problem that content is not accessible in most cases beyond car rental through the conventional OBT and TMC.”
Another specialist, HQ, aims to streamline ground transport by providing content to TMCs and OBTs, and is developing its SummitGround app with the promise of a "ride-hail-like experience for booking all types of car services”.
“Travellers can use a single app to book rides anywhere in the world, removing the need for multiple apps, currency conversions and language barriers,” says managing director Jeff LaFave.
“The app provides transparency and convenience, with real-time tracking and detailed driver information automatically mirrored on the desktop experience.
“We believe the concept of mobility as a service is coming to fruition. We're seeing technology and transportation become increasingly intertwined in ways that promise greater transparency, efficiency and a wider array of ground travel options for both corporates and travellers.”
Product expansion
Of course, tackling the distribution and technology side of the equation is vital, but what are the operators of ground transport services doing to improve their corporate travel offerings?
Germany-based chauffeur-drive firm Blacklane’s services are already available through platforms such as Groundspan and Concur, and it has recently integrated with both Jyrney and HQ. It has also been expanding its city-to-city services as part of its product mix.
Jason Dunderdale, Blacklane’s global head of agency sales, says city-to-city routes are designed to “directly highlight where Blacklane can compete with short-haul flights and rail travel”.
“Our rapidly growing city-to-city service now boasts over 30 routes in the UK alone,” he adds. “Around the world, popular routes include Los Angeles to San Diego, Miami to Orlando, New York to Washington, Frankfurt to Zurich and Rome to Florence.”
Sebastian Kleinau, CEO and founder of Talixo, which provides pre-booked rides globally, says it has recently agreed partnerships with HQ and Flight Centre’s corporate travel brands, including FCM and Corporate Traveller.
Talixo also has new developments in the pipeline such as introducing an all-electric “green” ride class and offering “smart ride-sharing”.
“Since the pandemic we’ve seen a significant increase in the adoption of private transfers into corporate travel programmes,” says Kleinau.
“With the increase in remote working, we’re seeing more inbound travel to office locations and commuter travel, versus more traditional outbound corporate travel for meetings, which may have decreased due to video conferencing and corporates actively trying to limit travel, as a way to reduce costs and emissions.”
Taxi firms are also increasingly offering a diverse portfolio of products. For example, FREENOW now features e-bikes in London and Dublin, as well as e-mopeds in other European countries.
Another option for corporates is to use a consolidated supplier to take some of the pain out of managing ground transport.
GroundScope’s CEO John McCallion says: “Corporate clients have a diverse set of requirements and would prefer a consolidated supplier to buy these driver services through one company who take full responsibility for the service and can be contacted for queries. We look after a large spectrum of clients from pharma, manufacturing, banking, finance and retail.”
The Uber conundrum
When Uber first emerged as a major player, the corporate travel industry had duty-of-care concerns about the safety of employees using its ride-hailing services, but these fears mostly appear to have receded.
These days, Uber seems to be more focused on playing the managed travel game, with new developments such as offering “delegated bookings” in Europe allowing bookers to manage trips for multiple travellers. Uber has also just added a Business Exec service in the UK allowing travellers to book more spacious vehicles.
Jenna Brown, director of Uber for Business UK, says: “We’ve really tried to improve our business-specific offering. We started as a consumer-facing company and initially adapted that product for the business market. We’re now entering a phase where we’re creating product specifically for the business community.”
Daniel Cockton, VP of global travel services at Wood PLC, has recently integrated Uber into his travel programme. “A lot of our travellers were already using Uber for Business anyway but we previously had no visibility,” he explains. “We were spending a significant amount of money without getting any benefits, particularly the link to International SOS which fits into our safety campaign, ‘Make it home’.
“Uber’s coverage and the high level of existing use by our travellers meant this was a bit of a no brainer. It’s a simple solution for bringing it within the managed travel programme. The take-up has been really good so far – a significant proportion of our active travellers are signed up.
“It’s very simple for travellers: they just use the Uber app and switch to their business account, which is linked to their Wood profile and then they get an email receipt into their work inbox.”
Sesilia Kalss, senior manager of consulting at American Express Global Business Travel, says that while ride-hailing adoption within corporate programmes is “still at a low level in Europe”, this will grow because travellers “like the convenience”.
“Some duty-of-care issues still need to be resolved, but suppliers want to adapt to meet those corporate standards and there are more suppliers now enhancing capabilities such as payments and reporting to reach corporate customers,” she adds.
Duty of care concerns
One of the main advantages of using technology to reshape the management of ground transport is its inclusion of more security features.
Daniel Barthuly, head of business travel at FREENOW, says: “Our ride-hailing app now boasts a myriad of built-in safety features to guarantee peace of mind and convenience: from easily accessible driver profiles and live location sharing to encrypted messaging between riders and drivers where personal details are not disclosed.
“The in-app support function ensures riders can quickly report safety issues directly within the app so the support team can respond and intervene.”
Mandy Dunbier, ground transport partnership manager for Flight Centre Travel Group, says that while many clients have “become more comfortable” with ride-hailing and sharing services, some still “express caution due to duty-of-care concerns”.
“Although the overall trend shows growing acceptance, we understand each client’s needs are unique,” she says. “We focus on offering tailored transport solutions that best suit the specific requirements of our customers, considering factors such as time constraints, budget and the purpose of travel.”
Bringing such diverse ground transport content together in a managed corporate environment is no easy task and progress is being made, particularly on the tech side. But consultant Sabah Kahoul, from Business Travel Purchase, says this process has yet to achieve “maturity” and this can only happen with the support of both buyers and suppliers. The technology is coming but it will only be successful if corporates decide to adopt it.
Built with Shorthand